Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule spoke to the media on Tuesday. He detailed the progress of some of his players, including tight end Thomas Fidone
Fidone is looking to have a healthy 2023 season, after having injury issues throughout the course of his Nebraska career. The tight end may have a big role in this offense, with wide receiver depth taking a hit throughout the course of camp.
On top of this, the depth at the position may be thinner than expected. With Arik Gilbert not getting his waiver approved, the tight end room may come down mainly to Fidone and Nate Boerkircher. That could still be a very solid positional group. Nevertheless, health is going to be a factor at the position in general.
Fidone coming along for Nebraska Football
Rhule is impressed with how Fidone is coming along, which is good news given how important the tight end position might be this season. The coach detailed the tight end’s positive progress, as reported by Husker247’s Brian Christopherson.
“We timed him in the summer at 255, he was low 4.5s. I mean, he’s a freak athlete. He’s probably as hard on himself as I am on myself. So we have a lot common in that group.”
Rhule likes that he sees Fidone now having is the mentality of ‘what’s next’ after a play he doesn’t like. “He’s made some plays at the end of practices in the 2-minute down in the red zone. He’s made some plays down there to win games for us or team scrimmages so I’m really happy with where he’s coming.”
In my opinion, the skill has always been there with Fidone. For the tight end, it’s about staying healthy. Hopefully this is the year that we really see him break out and become what we thought he was going to be. He was a high-level recruit, and a player that was thought to have all the tools necessary to become that X factor.
In addition to his skills as a receiver, he could also potentially help out with blocking. That is going to be important for an offense that is reportedly going to be physical. Unlike last year, this offense should align more with the rest of the Big Ten. Fidone should be a big part of that, and he should be able to fit.
Overall, things sound very positive on the Fidone front. Here’s to hoping he can make an impact from the get-go, as Nebraska football may depend on him often for the first couple weeks.
More must-reads: